I know that many of you aren’t going to care much about this, but not too long ago my twenty-seventh birthday came rolling by, and guess what? Well, it was the first time that we (Kayleigh and I) got to spend any time without Emmy in months! Well, I guess I get to go to work and school, but it’s the first time she’s really been without either of us for more than, like, an hour in the recent past. Not that I have anything against spending time with her or anything.

Any of you who are parents will understand how big a deal it is to get a night away from your children, and I gotta tell you, we enjoyed it.

The last time we got a night together, just us, was in September. We had just moved to Vegas and had gone down to Arizona to see my mom, and while we were there we went out to see IT. That was like four-and-a-half or five months ago! So it was time, well-deserved even, and we took advantage of the one chance we had to spend some real, quality time together.

After I got home from work, we all hung out and spent a while playing as a family, and tried to cram in all the time we could get together before we had to leave our little girl behind. When you never spend really any amount of time away from your kids, it can be hard to do so, even when it’s for less than a handful of hours! Such is the case for Kayleigh at least! She has the hardest time leaving Emmy anywhere, with anyone; it’s kinda cute. Anyways, we played and played with Emmy, gave her snacks, and basically just made sure she wasn’t going to think that we had abandoned her, or didn’t love her anymore, or something. Kids are weird, and think all kinds of weird things for all kinds of reasons, okay?

Finally, it came time to go and we made sure her Meme and Papa Steve were all set and were ready for the big night. They assured us that they were, and that they’d more than likely be capable of keeping our baby alive while we were gone. So we hit the road, Jack, and went forth into the night.

We first went to Walmart to snag some snackage as we had a date with Ladybird, and we weren’t paying four dollars at the theatre for some damn candy! We did get popcorn there, though, and we hit that sh— on the right day because it was National Popcorn Day and it came out to be half-price! We also got a large soda because bitches be thirsty.

Let me just tell you—Ladybird was fantastic! We both loved it. The storyline was great, the acting was great, the whole damn thing was great. We really enjoyed it and recommend it to all of you! Go see it, seriously. We’re probably going to buy the damn movie when it comes out on DVD, haha.

After the movie was over, Kayleigh gave me the present that she had gotten for me, and boy was it sweet. It’s a wristband (she knows I’ve got a thing for wristbands) with a brand? engraving? on the underside that says, “I love you, always & a day.” It’s very nice. I’ve worn it every day since. I’m sentimental like that.

We then went to P.F. Chang’s, where we had a gift card thanks to my old boss back in Portland. There we ate a great meal, had great conversation, and just enjoyed the hell out of each other’s company. Okay, let me get a little bit sappy for just a second. I love Kayleigh… like I really, really love her. Getting to spend that time with her, just us, on my birthday, really meant the world to me. It felt like we were young and on a date early in our relationship again. It was like that, but with the added knowledge that we have a tiny, beautiful creature that we made together waiting for us at home. It was so perfect and I loved every second I had with her with little to no responsibility, but…

Nights wind down, come to a close, and babies get missed. We ended up heading home at a decent time—probably right around 9:30—and arrived ready to be there. Kayleigh’s mother, Colleen, had baked me a cake, and she and Steve had gotten me a few presents. We ate the cake, I opened said presents, and we were happy; I was, at least. They got me a Barnes and Noble gift card (which I spent on a writing book called Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and it’s great by the way) and a pair of Edgar Allan Poe long socks, which is hilarious because Colleen got them because she knows I enjoy writing, and because she loves Poe… little did she know that the man and I share a birthday! Crazy stuff.

Anyways, once the festivities were over, we went upstairs and checked on our precious little girl and marveled at the thing that is ours. How did we get so lucky to get such a great kid? She is so much more than we ever expected and, in my eyes, far more than we’ll ever deserve. But, we’ve got her and are going to be forever grateful for her, and I’ve got to say that the best part of my entire birthday wasn’t being able to spend time alone with Kayleigh (although it was very close), but it was coming home and seeing our tiny, beautiful, innocent baby sleeping in her crib, dreaming the dreams that only the most precious of humans dream.